The Civil Services Examination has three stages – Prelims, Mains and Interview (Personality Test.) The third stage which is the IAS Interview is a critical one where aspirants can be exposed to different questions from the UPSC panel. One such segment from where questions are generally asked in UPSC Interview is an aspirants’ hobbies. This article will discuss such questions that can be asked related to your hobbies.
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Mentioning Hobbies in DAF for UPSC Interview
When you fill in your DAF for the UPSC mains exam, you will have to fill in details about your extracurricular activities and interests (such as hobbies). It is important to fill this out honestly as the board can ask questions on this. This article lists a few expected questions for some popular hobbies.
COOKING
- What do you like to cook?
- What is important – taste or presentation or nutrition?
- Tell us something about the speciality cuisine of your region/state.
- How will cooking help you in administration/life?
- Can you prescribe me a balanced diet?
- Can you tell us about the latest technology in the food industry?
- What are the different methods of cooking?
- Why are western food and Chinese food so popular in India. But Indian food is not becoming so popular in western countries, why? (This question was asked)
- What is a good calorie intake for a human being?
- What is your favourite dish? (You must know about its history, etc.)
- What is your opinion on packaged/processed food?
- What is the optimum cooking temperature?
- How can the problem of malnutrition in India be tackled?
- Tell us something about the Mid-Day Meal scheme.
- Differentiate between baking/frying/roasting/poaching.
- Talk about the influence of western cooking in Indian cuisine.
PHOTOGRAPHY
- What kind of photography are you interested in? (wildlife, portraits, city life, etc.)
- Name a few famous photographers from India.
- What are the different types of cameras?
READING/WRITING
- What do you write? (poetry, prose, etc.) In which language do you write?
- What do you like to read mostly?
- Who is your favourite author? Why?
- Which is your favourite book?
- What is the difference between a sonnet and a ballad?
- What do you think of regional writing in India?
- What do you think of Indian writers in English?
- Tell us something about the ancient poets through the ages in India. (ancient, medieval, etc.)
- Can you talk about the role of poets in the Indian freedom struggle?
MUSIC
- What is your favourite style?
- Who is your favourite singer?
- Is classical music declining?
- What do you think is the main difference between Hindustani and Carnatic classical music?
- Is Bollywood music overwhelming every other form of music in India today?
- Tell us something about music therapy.
- Evolution of music.
- What is the state of folk music in India today?
MEDITATION
- What is meditation?
- What are the various kinds of meditation and which one do you practice?
- What are the benefits of meditation?
- What is the relation between meditation and spirituality?
- Should meditation and yoga be made part of the educational curriculum in schools and colleges?
PAINTING/SKETCHING
- What kind of painting do you do? (oil, watercolour, fabric, etc.)
- What is the difference between painting, drawing, and sketching?
- Know about famous painters. (Picasso, Monet, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Hussain, Raza, etc.)
- What are the different art movements? (impressionism, fauvism, cubism, realism, romanticism, etc.)
- Tell us your opinion on artistic freedom of expression? What do you think of censorship?
- What measures can be taken to promote art in India?
DRAMATICS
- What are the different forms of theatre?
- What do you know about the history of theatre in India?
- Which states in India have been traditional bastions of theatre?
- Know about NSD, Sangeet Natak Akademi, etc.
- Do you think theatre can survive the onslaught of films?
- Name a few eminent theatre personalities.
- What do you know about Bharata’s Natyashastra?
- What is the contribution of dramatics to the movie industry?
Consider the following questions asked to Abhay Chauhan during the 2014 UPSC CSE.
- Q) From which position you used to play in football?
- Q) Tell me about traditional formation…
- Q) Tell me about “Hand of God”.
- Q) Tell me a name of a cricketer, who sometimes did not wait for the umpire decision and left the field if he felt he is out.
Aspirants can become familiar with the general pattern of the IAS exam by visiting the IAS Syllabus page. For more preparation materials they can refer to the links given in the table below:
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